BRATTLEBORO — St. Michael's Episcopal Church is teaming up with Jerusalem Peacebuilders, a local organization, to offer a Lenten series on the peoples and challenges of the Middle East, beginning Sunday, March 9, from 9 to 10 a.m.
St. Michael's service follows at 10:15.
All are welcome to this opening event and to the subsequent evening sessions, which include lectures and time for questions, from 6:45 to 8 p.m. in the Meeting Room of St. Michael's, 16 Bradley Ave. The building is fully accessible.
The series' lineup includes:
• Sunday, March 9 (adult forum): “Middle East Primer” with Nicholas Porter, an Episcopal priest and founder/director of Jerusalem Peacebuilders.
With a master's degree in Middle East studies from the American University in Cairo, a master's degree in war studies from King's College at the University of London, and a M.Div. from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, Porter was ordained to the priesthood in 1995, and has served as curate at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem and as sub-dean and canon pastor at the American Cathedral in Paris.
He also was rector of Trinity Church in Southport, Conn., from 2006–2013, and resides with his family in Brattleboro.
• Tuesday, March 11: “Shattered Mosaic: Refugees in the Middle East Crises,” led by Christopher George of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut and the local affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries and the Immigration and Refugee Program of Church World Service.
IRIS says it resettles approximately 200 refugees annually, that it helps asylees and other immigrants, and that its refugee clients come from such nations as Afghanistan, the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan.
• Tuesday, March 18: “The Future's Hinge: Afghanistan and the 2014 Future,” led by Marin Strmecki, senior vice president and director of programs of the Smith Richardson Foundation in Westport, Conn.
Strmecki has worked in a variety of advisory capacities in the U.S. government, including as Afghanistan policy coordinator and special advisor on Afghanistan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2003 to 2005; as advisor to Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2004 to 2007; and as policy counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
• Tuesday, March 25: “A Land Divided: Israel-Palestine,” led by Phillip Wilcox, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. In the U.S. Foreign Service, Wilcox served in Laos, Indonesia, Bangladesh and, most recently, in Jerusalem as U.S. consul general.
In the Department of State, Wilcox has served in the Bureau for Middle Eastern and South Asian Affairs as director for regional affairs, director for Israeli and Arab-Israeli affairs, and deputy assistant secretary of state for Middle Eastern Affairs.
He also served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, and as ambassador at large and coordinator for counterterrorism.
Jerusalem Peacebuilders says on its website that it's an interfaith non-profit organization dedicated to creating a better future for humanity across religions, cultures, and nationalities, and that it operates camps in Brattleboro and Houston, Texas.
Its programs focus on uniting Israeli, Palestinian, and American youth and providing them with the opportunities and skills they need to become future leaders for peace in the global community.